Is it true that lightning does not strike in the same place twice?

According to legend, lightning never strikes the same point on the earth's surface twice. We checked how this statement agrees with science.

This interesting fact, which has long been accepted expression, is ubiquitous both in popular science literature (a book by psychologist Robert Sternberg "Intelligence of Success"), and in fiction (the novel by Arkady Vasiliev “At one o’clock in the afternoon, Your Excellency...”). Motivational speaker Brian Tracy in his bestseller How to Get Rich from Scratch declaresthat the probability of lightning striking the same place within two years is equal to the probability of winning the lottery - one in several million. In one of Michael Bond's books about Paddington Bear approvedthat such an event occurs simply rarely. Here's Jules Verne "Children of Captain Grant" describes a case where lightning struck the same place five or six times in a row.

A thunderstorm is a phenomenon that has captured the human imagination since ancient times, as it was accompanied by significant noise and bright light effects. It is no coincidence that for many peoples of the world the supreme god was precisely thunderer, sometimes with a bun lightning in hands. And during its existence, human civilization has given rise to beliefs associated with thunder and lightning plenty.

A simple proof of the fallacy of the statement can be the fact of the existence of such a common device as lightning rod (not quite correctly called a lightning rod). Indeed, if it does not attract lightning strikes, then at least it intercepts them, that is, it repeatedly takes the blow upon itself. However, we live in an era when it is possible to verify the validity of one or another idea about a natural phenomenon in a fully scientific way, which scientists are actively using. This fate did not bypass the belief about lightning repeatedly striking the same place.

About 20 years ago, scientists William Valin and Philip Crider from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona analyzed Video footage of lightning strikes in the local city of Tucson during the summer of 1997. As it turned out, in 136 out of 386 flashes (35%), lightning struck the same place on the ground two or more times. In addition, physicists have concluded that after the first strike, lightning will strike 10–100 m from its original location with a 67% probability.

“Most people believe that lightning strikes one place only once. In our study, we proved that in a third of cases lightning strikes the same point several times. The chance of being struck by lightning if you stand where it has already struck is about 45%, which was previously thought to be zero,” Crider said at the time.

In 2019, an international research group led by scientists from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) conducted study, which was intended not only to confirm the possibility of lightning hitting the same place again, but to explain the dynamics of this phenomenon, which is already believed to be quite frequent. A radio telescope was used to study the development of lightning flashes in detail. LOFAR.

Lightning is a simple electrical spark caused by a difference between positive and negative charges. In this case, the discharge forms an extensive network of flows several kilometers long - a kind of thread between heaven and earth. Research has shown that negative charges in a thundercloud are not discharged in one flash, but are partially retained. Once the charge in the cloud becomes strong enough again, the flow is restored along the old route, resulting in a second lightning strike. Thanks to this mechanism, lightning can strike the same place several times. In other words, the pockets of charge that form as a result of one lightning strike pave the way for others.

Dmitry Iudin, an employee of the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, came to a similar conclusion in his work, published in the journal Atmospheric Research. In both studies, scientists note that a repeated effect is observed in the case of a negative discharge, but a positive one leads to the cessation of the existence of the entire lightning system.

Thus, the point that was recently struck by lightning is not only not excluded as a possible future target, but is a fairly likely recipient of a new discharge.

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on topic:

1. Lightning Really Does Strike More Than Twice
2. Lightning Totally Does Strike Twice, And Now Scientists Know Why